Jensen Huang Resigns From Nvidia After Affair Scandal - Newsweek

Jensen Huang has resigned as the CEO of Nvidia after 33 years at the helm of the artificial intelligence chip giant, following reports of extramarital affairs, including with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.

In a press release on Thursday, the company said that Huang’s resignation would be effective immediately, and that he will be replaced on an interim basis by Colette Kress—Nvidia’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

“The Board is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will consider internal and external candidates,” the company said.

Huang’s future at the company was increasingly in question, following reporting from The New York Times in October that he had developed a close relationship with a women the U.S. intelligence community had identified as a potential intelligence operative for Beijing. Huang admitted to an extramarital affair on Sunday, and the individual has been identified as Alice Huang, a Chinese national of no relation who worked for a company based in Singapore and which previously purchased Nvidia chips.

Nvidia confirmed that it had opened an investigation, and President Donald Trump also told reporters that federal investigators were looking into the matter and the potential national security implications of Huang’s affair. Huang received support from the U.S. president, who said the CEO had told him he “absolutely had no idea that the person in question was a spy."

And on Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Huang had engaged in a second affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare. The Times cited five anonymous individuals who worked at the company in its reporting. This emerged alongside reports that the Nvidia board was weighing whether to oust Huang.

Nvidia was trading at $173.73 ahead of markets opening on Thursday, close to its 52-week low of $164.27 and down from the all-time high closing price of $239.24 achieved on October 6. The stock was down around 8 percent this week, and 23 percent over the past month—though this was amid sector-wide and AI-related headwinds as well as the developing scandals involving Huang.

“Obviously, Huang’s resignation/ouster is an enormous development for the company, as the market seems to be reflecting,” Robert Bartlett, a Professor of Law and Business at Stanford University, told Newsweek Thursday.

Nvidia has already been sinking in overnight trading on reports that the board was considering ousting Huang, and the stock plummeted just before markets opened after the company confirmed that its CEO had resigned.

Earlier in the week, Nvidia said it was confident that Huang would continue to be able to stay on as its chief executive.

“Today’s news will not slow Nvidia,” a spokesman for the company told The New York Times. “Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as C.E.O. without interruption.”

However, his position appeared untenable to an increased number of analysts following the subsequent reporting about the alleged affair with Powell.